JIS Services

The pharmacy and doctors’ offices at the Port Antonio Hospital in Portland are to be expanded to improve services offered to members of the public.
A contract for the expansion was signed by the government and Tankweld Construction Company during a ceremony held at the hospital on November 9.
Under the contract, Tankweld will do the work at a cost of $4.2 million. Funding will be provided by the National Health Fund (NHF).
The work is expected to begin within the next two weeks and should be completed by February of next year.
Signing on behalf of the government were Minister of Health, John Junor, and Rae Barrett, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NHF, while Jerome Gayle, Managing Director of Tankweld, signed for the company.
In his address, Mr. Junor praised the NHF for the contribution it was making to the effort to ensure that the best quality health care is provided for the most vulnerable in the society, and for the assistance it was providing generally for the development of the public health sector.
He said the NHF has been responding to the need for a wider selection of drugs, as well as an improvement in the subsidy on the drugs. He added that the NHF was now providing assistance for 440,000 persons, with increased subsidies of 35 to 50 per cent.
The Minister pointed out that the expansion to be carried out at the hospital was well needed, because of the large number of persons who visited the institution daily.
Mr. Junor said the project was also being undertaken in keeping with government’s commitment to ensure that the best quality health care is provided for the people of the country.